Gov. Ernie Fletcher said Western might get the projects back that he vetoed last year.

Fletcher called a “town hall” meeting at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center Wednesday to discuss what to do with Kentucky’s projected $279 million budget surplus.

President Gary Ransdell and other leaders want the surplus to help fund the projects Fletcher vetoed last session.

“I have all the confidence possible that they will be restored,” Ransdell said.

Fletcher, Sen. Richie Sanders, R-Franklin, and Sen. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, were confident that the projects would be restored during the session.

Sanders and Guthrie were among community leaders who attended the event.

“I think it’s very, very likely we’ll restore all of those,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher vetoed a number of state and agency bond projects for Western and other universities during the last legislative session.

The budget this year will be the same as the proposed budget last year, said House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green. Richards said restoring the projects the governor vetoed last year is a priority.

“I don’t understand how he could support them now and vetoed them at the time,” Richards said.

It’s fortunate that the General Assembly is going to be back to enhance the budget, he said.

“We’ve said from the day they were vetoed that the vetoes were wrong,” Richards said.

Some of the vetoed Western projects included renovations to the Owensboro Community College, renovations to classroom buildings and the Preston Center and construction of new buildings. The vetoed projects totaled about $71 million.

But Fletcher’s presentation wasn’t all about Western.

Fletcher’s presentation began with divulging the details of Kentucky’s overall economy.

He then presented a list of many statewide projects that could receive funding from the surplus.

Making tuition more affordable for students, giving money to public schools and universities and increasing funding for Kentucky’s retirement program were among them.

The town hall group voted on the best projects. The areas that received the most votes were retirement funding and veterans funding.

Ransdell, however, cast his vote for making tuition more affordable.

A fellow Western employee shared that view. Bob Edwards, assistant vice president for university relations, suggested beginning a “Commonwealth covenant” which is a similar program to the “Cardinal covenant” at the University of Louisville. The Cardinal covenant is a program that provides aid for low-income students.

Western is considering developing a similar program for students on the Hill.

Administrators have met to discuss the feasibility of such a program, Ransdell said. A proposal should be given to the Board of Regents, he said. Ransdell wasn’t certain when the proposal would be finished.

The state’s increased corporate and income taxes caused the $279 million estimated surplus, said Mary Lassiter, deputy director of the governor’s office of policy research in the state budget office.

Spending cuts also contributed to the surplus, Fletcher said.

The projected surplus won’t be final until June 30, when the fiscal year ends.

Reach Alex Fontana at news@wkuherald.com.